BY SAPNA PATHAK

A national rule change limiting pitch counts gave Neighborhood-area Little League boards no choice but to follow the guidelines. But it certainly didn’t stop board members and coaches from voicing varying opinions on the decision.

The rule, officially adopted by the Little League International Board of Directors on Aug. 25, 2006, states players 10 and younger cannot exceed 75 pitches per day; those who are 11 or 12 cannot throw more than 85 pitches per day; and players 13 to 16 must not exceed 95 pitches per day. Furthermore, a pitcher who throws more than 61 pitches in one outing must receive at least four days rest before taking the mound again.

“Most young pitchers suffer medical problems from overuse,” said Chris Downs, Little League media relations manager. “Little League teams might not be the only baseball teams kids are playing for, and not all coaches are educated or experienced enough to know when it’s enough. Having the rule in place helps prevent that.”

Managerial mayhem

When Chris Mamos, president of Concord National Little League, informed his managers of the new rule, he heard mixed reviews. While most managers agreed the rule would benefit their young players, just as many were vocal in expressing what they didn’t like.

“Oh yeah, some of them were annoyed because it was one more thing they had to do,” said Mamos. “Of course they understood it was there to protect arms, but at the same time, some just didn’t think it was necessary to change from counting innings to counting pitches. But we didn’t have any arm injuries this season, so who knows?”

Steve LaRose, who’ll step in as head coach of the 11- and 12-year-old Goffstown all-stars, said the real adjustments will come during the tournament. Though this season is LaRose’s first, it’s the second in which GJB has seen the rule since signing up with a half dozen Granite State leagues in a pilot program testing the rule last season.

The pilot program included a fraction of the organization’s roughly 7,000 leagues, which includes 500,000 players from around the world eligible to compete in the Little League World Series each year.

“The deeper you get into the tournament, the more games you’ll play,” said LaRose. “So if it’s a 3-2 game and your ace is dealing, what do you do? Pull him after 50 or 60 pitches because you think you’ll need him again in another game? Or keep him in to preserve the lead to get to that next game? The rule will have more attention paid to it during the playoffs.”

Steve Stewart, president of Salem Youth Baseball, faced different reservations from team managers prior to the season.

“Their big concern was  you’re managing and have one (pitch) count, and the other team has a different number for your pitcher,” said Stewart. “Then what? So we had both managers meet between each inning and confer. It added some extra time to each game, but it was the way we tried it.”

Proactive or reactive?

Though Little League’s installation of the new rule comes when baseball is now a year-round sport, some Neighborhood-area league officials said perhaps it’s too late. Stewart wouldn’t comment, but others stated the change came not as a means to prevent overuse of young arms, but as a result of seeing too much damage already.

“I was definitely for pitch counts because look at exactly what happened in (last year’s) Little League World Series,” said Brian Harrington, Bedford Little League president. “The kid threw 120 pitches. That’s absolutely too much for a kid’s arm. It certainly was a problem we were seeing in the past at times. I don’t care what parents say about their kids being able to throw that much in one game, now they have no choice.”

Harrington, last year’s 11- and 12-year-old Bedford all-stars manager, also said if used properly, the rule allows pitchers to throw more innings without the lasting harm of overuse.

In an August 2006 article in USA Today, research from the American Sports Medicine Institute, based in Alabama, found the six-fold increase seen in arm injuries had roots in youth baseball.

“Some managers needed this rule,” said John Riehl, Goffstown Junior Baseball president. “We’re always in the habit of trying to get one extra batter from the pitcher. ‘Oh, maybe he can get one more,’ you think, and then it’s three or four batters later, and he’s thrown way too many.”

Inexperience and overplay

Yves Pariseau, president of Auburn Little League, said limited resources in some towns simply don’t allow for highly trained managers at the youth level. Little League offers teaching programs in books and on DVDs and audio CDs, ranging in price from $13 to $300.

The sometimes costly programs generally lead to volunteers and parents stepping in as managers.

“Little League has a lot of first-year coaches,” said Dave Angus, manager of Ordway’s Market Giants, which plays in Concord. “It’s not anyone’s fault. It’s a community-based program. So yeah, you’re going to have dad out there coaching his son’s team, but its dad’s lack of experience coaching that might hurt his pitcher.”

While most players spend summers in Little League, the number of those playing the sport in other leagues, including AAU, club and high school, is increasing. Since Little League can’t force other leagues to adopt pitch counts, there’s no guarantee overuse can be avoided.

The ‘elite’

While the pitch-count debate continues, Neighborhood managers each noted one positive: developing new pitchers.

“Now you have to train some kids to be part of that elite club of pitchers,” said Bedford’s Harrington. “You can’t just rely on two arms to ride you through the tournament. It also creates a fairness between teams.”

Auburn’s Pariseau, Concord manager Jay Alosa and Stewart agreed.

“Maybe this makes us look at other kids as pitchers,” said Pariseau. “Instead of looking to one or two superstars, you might find a diamond in the rough because of this. Two years ago, we had a game where the pitcher threw 85 pitches in one inning. It’s times like that you wish the rule was already in place.”